Rail reforming device



Jan. 24, 1939. H c. DRAKE 2,144,916

RAIL REFORMING DEVICE] Filed Oct. 6, 1956 INVENTOR j HARCOl/RT C. DRAKE Patented Jan. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES RAIL REFORMING DEVICE Harcourt C. Drake, Hcmpstcad, N. Y., assignor to Sperry Products, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 6,

14 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of, and machine for, reforming battered rail portions, especially the battered ends at rail joints in track. It is well known that the passage of heavy loads over the rails at the joints causes the tread portions of the rails to receive more wear and tear atthe joints than at other points throughout the rail length, so that there is a marked depression in the rail ends at the joints. Heretofore, such rails have been removed from track as defective, and more recently it has been proposed to heat the rail ends and by hammering build up the treads. The latter method, however, is slow and unsatisfactory. It is therefore the principal object of my invention to provide a method and machine for quickly building up the battered rail ends in such manner as to insure that said raised ends will coincide with the unbattered treads of the rails.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent in the following detailed description thereof.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. l is a plan view, with parts broken away, of a machine embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view, with parts broken away, of the Fig. 1 device.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatical side elevation illustrating the principle of my invention.

Referring first to Fig. 3, there is shown the section of a railheacl R which has a normal tread surface I0 but which at the joints may frequently have its .ends battered down to a level shown at II. This results in poor riding conditions of trains over such rails and the problem consists in reforming the railheads to bring the battered tread surface I l into the same plane as the unbattered tread surface H). For this purpose the railheads at the adjoining ends are heated to plasticity by any suitable means such as electric heaters or oil ovens which surround the railheads at the joint. When the heads have been heated to plasticity I remove the heaters and apply to the joint my machine shown in Figs.

' l and 2. The said machine comprises a base 20 which may rest at its outer end 2| upon the ground, and which may at its inner end be hooked over the heads of the adjacent rails R, R by means of hook portions 22, said hook portions being spaced so as to engage the rails R and R at a sufficient distance removed from joint J so as to clear the battered ends of the rails. The said hock portions 22 are connected at their rear by a cross-member ,25 designed to engage the gage surfaces 26 of the rails and form a fixed 1936, Serial No. 104,171

end member against which said rails abut. A plunger 21 having a projection 28 is mounted for sliding movement on run-ways 29 formed on the base 2t! and held against upward movement by means of overlying projections 30 extending from the hook members 22. Thus confined between runways 29 and projections 30 the plunger 21 is caused to move toward and away from the outer surface 3| of the railhead by means such as fluid pressure from a suitable source, not shown, supplied through flexible conduit 32 to a cylinder 33 within which operates a piston 34 having a piston-rod 35 connected to a head 36 which carries the plunger 2'! on spaced bars 37. It will now be seen that when fluid pressure is applied to the cylinder 33, the plunger 21 is pushed against the surface 3| of the railhead to cause the projection 28 which spans the distance of the battered rail ends to force the said surface 3! inwardly to the dotted position shown in Fig. 3 and force the tread of the rail portions adjacent the joint J to rise to the dotted position indicated at 40 in Fig. 3. It will be seen that this position 40 is above the normal tread surface Ill. The plunger 21 is held in its inward position by reason of the fact that it has fixed to the outer surface thereof bolts 42 fixed in a cross-head 43 which is loosely slidable on bars 31. Springs 45 are interposed between the plunger 2'! and the crosshead 43. Said cross-head 43, bolts 42 and plunger 21 move inwardly as a unit, in which position the springs 45 are not under tension. When the crosshead 43 and plunger 21 have been moved inwardly sufficiently to raise the tread to the desired height, the said cross-head has passed beyond pawls which are pressed by springs 5| upwardly to a position in back of cross-head 43. The fluid pressure in cylinder 33 is then released because retraction of said cross-head is prevented by the pawls 50. The cross-head is thus held in fixed position and therefore the plunger 21 is also held against substantial outward movement by reason of the tensioning of springs 45. y

The next operation consists in reducing the tread 40 to a point where, when cooled, it'will be in substantial alignment with the surface Ill. This means that the surface of the battered ends must be brought down to a point slightly above the surface Ill so that when the metal cools the reformed end portions will be in alignment with the surface I0. For bringing down the surface 40 to the proper plane there is mounted on the base In in brackets 50, a cylinder 6i supplied with fluid under pressure from the source, not shown,

through flexible conduit 62 to actuate a piston 63 and lower a plunger 64 to lower the tread 40 to the desired position. The plunger 64 is of such length that it extends beyond the battered ends and engages the surfaces of the unbattered portions of rails R and R, that is to say, it is of substantially greater length than projection 28 which extends over substantially the battered ends only. In this manner the unbattered tread surfaces of rails R and R form the limiting stop position for the plunger 64. The said plunger should, however, be formed with its surface slightly concave to allow for the contraction of the heated rail ends as hereinbefore described.

The lowering of plunger 64 tends to spread the railhead but this spreading action is against the action of springs 45 which oppose such spreading. When the plunger 64 has reached its lowermost position, the pawls 50 may be lowered by means of cranks 65 on a rod 61 which may extend through the base 20 and be provided with a crank 65 at its other end so that it may be operated from either side of the machine. When the pawls 50 are withdrawn from the rear of cross-head 43 the springs 45 will cause the crosshead to be moved outwardly to its normal position to relieve the tension of springs 45. The plunger 21 is moved outwardly by means of retractile spring 66 within the cylinder 33, the fluid pressure having been released after the tread was raised.

Although the above apparatus has been described as applied to rail joints, it will be readily apparent that it is equally applicable to raising intermediate portions of the rail, such as, for example, portions of the rail which have been burned and ground away by the slipping of locomotive wheels.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have herein described the principle and operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other equivalent means. Also, while it is designed to use the various features and elements in the combination and relations described, some of these may be altered and others omitted withv out interfering with the more general results outlined, and the invention extends to such use.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The method of reforming battered rail portions in track which consists in heating said portions to plasticity, applying sufficient pressure between the gage and outside surfaces of the railhead to raise the tread above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rail, and applying pressure to the tread surface of said battered portion of the rail through a die which extends beyond the battered portion and into engagement with the unbattered portions of the rail.

2. The method of reforming battered rail portions in track which consists in heating said portions to plasticity, applying sufiicient pressure between the gage and outside surfaces of the railhead to raise the tread above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rail, and applying pressure to the tread surface of said battered portion of the rail through a die which extends beyond the battered portion and into engagement with the unbattered portions of the rail, the portion of said die member which'engages the battered. portion being elevated to such extent that said battered portion when cool will be in alignment with the unbattered portions of the rail.

3. The method of reforming battered rail ends at joints in track which consists in heating the ends to plasticity, applying suflicient pressure between the gage and the outside surfaces of the railheads at the joint to raise the treads above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rails, and applying pressure to the tread surfaces of the rails through a die which extends beyond the rail ends into engagement with the unbattered portions of the rails.

4. The method of reforming battered rail ends 7 at joints in track which consists in heating the ends to plasticity, applying sufficient pressure between the gage and the outside surfaces of the railheads at the joint to raise the treads above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rails, and applying pressure to the tread surfaces of the rails through a die which extends beyond the rail ends into engagement with the unbattered portions of the rails, the portion of said die member which engages the rail ends being elevated to such extent that the treads at the rail ends when cool will be in alignment with the unbattered portions of the rails.

5. Apparatus for reforming battered rail portions in track after said portions have been heated to plasticity, which comprises a fixed support adapted to engage the gage surface of the railhead at said portion, means for applying pressure to the outside surface of said head opposite said support to raise the tread of the battered portion above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rail, and means for applying pressure to the tread surface of the battered portion to bring the tread thereof into alignment with the unbattered portions of the rail.

6. Apparatus for reforming battered rail portions in track after said portions have been heated to plasticity which comprises a fixed support adapted to engage the gage surface of the railhead at said portion, means for applying pressure to the outside surface of said head opposite said support to raise the tread of the battered portion above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rail, and means for applying pressure to the treadsurface of the battered portion to bring the tread thereof into alignment with the unbattered portions of the rail, said last-named means including a die member adapted to engage the tread of the battered portion and extend beyond the battered portion into engagement with the unbattered por tions of the rail.

'7. Apparatus for reforming battered rail portions in track after said portions have been heated to plasticity which comprises a fixed support adapted to engage the gage surface of the rail head at said portion, means for applying pressure to the outside surface of said head opposite said support to raise the tread of the battered portion above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rail, and means for applying pressure to the tread surface of the battered portion to bring the tread thereof into alignment with the unbattered portions of the rail, said last-named means including a die member adapted to engage the tread of the battered portion and extend beyond the battered portion into engagement with the unbattered portions of the rail, the portion of said die member which engages the battered portion being elevated to such extent that the tread at the battered portion when cool will be in alignment with the unbattered portions of the rail.

8". Apparatus for reforming battered rail ends at joints in track after said ends have been heated to plasticity which comprises a fixed support adapted to engage the gage surface of the rai1- heads at the joint, means for applying pressure to the outside surfaces of said heads opposite said support to raise the treads of the rail ends above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rails, and means for applying pressure to the tread surface to bring the treads of the rail ends into alignment with the unbattered portions of the rails.

9. Apparatus for reforming battered rail ends at joints in track after said ends have been heated to plasticity which comprises a fixed support adapted to engage the gage surface of the railheads at the joint, means for applying pressure to the outside surfaces of said heads opposite said support to raise the treads of the rail ends above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rails, and means for applying pressure to the tread surface to bring the treads of the rail ends into alignment with the unbattered portions of the rails, said last-named means including a die member adapted to engage the treads of the rails ends and extend beyond the rail ends into engagement with the unbattered portions of the rails.

10. Apparatus for reforming battered rail ends at joints in track after said ends have been heated to plasticity which comprises a fixed support adapted to engage the gage surface of the railheads at the joint, means for applying pressure to the outside surfaces of said heads opposite said support to raise the treads of the rail ends above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rails, and means for applying pressure to the tread surface to bring the treads of the rail ends into alignment with the unbattered portions of the rails, said last-named means including a die member adapted to engage the treads of the rail ends and extend beyond the rail ends into engagement with the unbattered portions of the rails, the portion of said die member which engages the rail ends being elevated to such extent that the treads at the rail ends when cool will be in alignment with the unbattered portions of the rails.

11. The method of reforming battered rail portions in track which consists in heating said portions to plasticity, applying sumcient pressure between the gage and outside surfaces of the railhead to raise the tread above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rail, applying pressure to the tread surface of said battered portion of the rail through a die which extends beyond the battered portion and into engagement with the unbattered portions of the rail, and yieldably opposing lateral spreading of the railhead when pressure is applied to the tread surface.

12. The method of reforming battered rail ends at joints in track which consists in heating the ends to plasticity, applying sufficient pressure between the gage and the outside surfaces of the railheads at the joint to raise the reads above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rails, applying pressure to the tread surfaces of the rails through a die which extends beyond the rail ends into engagement with the unbattered portions of the rails, and yieldably opposing lateral spreading of the railhead when pressure is applied to the tread surface.

13. Apparatus for reforming battered rail portions in track after said portions have been heated to plasticity, which comprises a fixed support adapted to engage the gage surface of the railhead at said portion, means for applying pressure to the outside surface of said head opposite said support to raise the tread of the battered portion above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rail, means for applying pressure to the tread surface of the battered portion to bring the tread thereof into alignment with the unbattered portions of the rail, and yieldable means for opposing lateral spreading of the railhead when pressure is applied to the tread surface.

14. Apparatus for reforming batter-ed rail ends at joints in track after said ends have been heated to plasticity which comprises a fixed support adapted to engage the gage surface of the railheads at the joint, means for applying pressure to the outside surfaces of said heads opposite said support to raise the treads of the rail ends above the plane of the unbattered portions of the rails, means for applying pressure to the tread surface to bring the treads of the rail ends into alignment with the unbattered portions of the rails, and yieldable means for opposing lateral spreading of the railhead when pressure is applied to the tread surface.

HARCOURT C. DRAKE. 

